


December Lights

by InkyIris



Series: Into the Dark [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: F/M, Jack is dead, This will spoil Into The Dark if you aren't to a certain point, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29371038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InkyIris/pseuds/InkyIris
Summary: December 2005 is the Fenton's first Christmas without Jack. Maddie and Vlad discuss how it'll go - and how to move forward.If you haven't reached December 2005 in Into The Dark, this will contain spoilers.
Relationships: Maddie Fenton/Vlad Masters
Series: Into the Dark [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157456
Kudos: 4





	December Lights

**Author's Note:**

> I figured I could post all those snippets I've written for this over the years to figure out how things behind the scenes go. I never figured anyone would see them because they aren't in Danny's POV, but why not share.

“Maddie?” Vlad stood in the doorway to the library.

She looked up from the science journal she was reading - the latest edition, of course. “Hey.” She smiled at her boyfriend and moved over on the couch, an invitation.

Vlad accepted, moving to settle in on the couch beside her. He had gotten rid of his formal suit and was wearing soft, grey sweatpants and a short sleeved, white shirt, a look that, until recently, she hadn’t seen on him since college. He’d finally gotten comfortable enough with her to let his guard down and relax. The thought made her smile as he rested an arm along her shoulders. She entwined her fingers with the ones of that hand.

“Have you read this article?” She showed him an article regarding the differences of proliferation in infants later shown to have demonstrable meta abilities versus those without. “I wonder if we could use meta stem cells to help reverse the effects of degenerative neurological conditions. Could they help with Alzheimer's or Parkinson’s, do you think?”

“It might be able to.” Vlad skimmed the article. “I have some business contacts in the healthcare industry. I can talk to them about procuring samples for STAR Labs.”

Maddie grinned and leaned further into Vlad. “Is there a place you don’t have contacts?”

“My eyes?” Vlad replied with a slight quirk of his mouth.

Maddie laughed a little in surprise. “I didn’t expect that from you. That was terrible.”

“Daniel may be rubbing off on me.” Vlad shook his head with a wry smile. “He’s a clever child.”

“Why do you call him Daniel and not Danny?” She put the magazine on the end table and shifted to see his face more fully.

Vlad didn’t answer for a moment, then sighed. “Well, when I first met them at the reunion, it seemed too familiar. Sometimes nicknames are solely for close friends and family and I didn’t want to overstep. Now, it’s been so long, it would feel strange or unnatural for me to switch to Danny over Daniel.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Can you imagine Daniel’s reaction if I called him Danny? He wouldn’t know to whom I was speaking.”

Maddie laughed and bumped his knee with her own. “You’re so dramatic.”

“No one has ever accused me of being dramatic before.” The man looked a little hurt.

“No one has known you as well as I do.”

Something crossed his face then, an emotion or expression Maddie couldn’t identify. Then it was gone. “I actually came in here to ask you a question.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I seem to remember a certain person being banned from the nearest mall for unmasking their Macey’s Santa in front of waiting children back in college.”

Maddie flushed slightly. “They were deceiving all those children! They deserved to know the truth!”

Vlad chuckled, squeezing her knee with his free hand. “That’s not what I’m asking. I haven’t heard any recent reports of de-bearding around town. I wanted to ask how you wanted to handle Christmas this year.”

Maddie was quiet for a moment and Vlad quickly continued, “If you’d like, we can handle it like Thanksgiving and I’ll just stay out of your way, or I can go to my other house for the week of Christmas, the one back in Wisconsin, or-”

“Vlad, honey, no, you don’t need to do that.” She squeezed his hand. “I already talked to Danny. I haven’t had a chance to speak with Jazz yet, but I don’t think she’ll have a problem. We want you to spend Christmas with us.”

Vlad went completely still. “You do?”

“Yes.” She squeezed his hand slightly again. Danny hadn’t explicitly said it, but he had said something about not wanting Vlad to be alone and that sounded about the same.

His eyes lit up. “Well, that will be enjoyable.” He kept his tone casual, but Maddie could read the joy in his expression. It almost broke her heart, that he would be so happy over something as small as being included.

It hurt that the cause of all these good things was the death of her husband. It still hurt every day, though it wasn’t as sharp as those first few days. This time of year, with commercials and pictures of Santa, reminded her more than ever of Jack. It was almost too much to bear in those moments. If the first Christmas without him was this hard, she didn’t know how she was going to handle their anniversary.

For now, she just tried to find reason to smile. For her kids, and especially for Jack. Jack was a boisterous man who lived life to the fullest and he always wanted her to be happy. She was trying to live her life in a way that she could be genuinely happy, because that’s the way Jack would have expected her to live. Vlad hadn’t been an expected part of moving on, but she was glad they’d found each other. He made breathing easier. He was someone who understood, who could reminisce with her about Jack and know what she meant, who was in and of himself a good man. He made her happy, without making her feel like she had to forget. And the way he was with Danny - Maddie was reluctant to admit it, but Jack hadn’t been the best with their kids. He’d definitely tried, but he couldn’t relate and put too much pressure on them, reacted more harshly than the situation called for sometimes. 

She’d never doubted his love for the kids, but she did wonder if it had something to do with how he’d been raised. He didn’t say much about his childhood, usually reverting to joking, cliched stories, but over the years Jack had admitted to her that he’d had a very high pressure childhood. He hadn’t had many holiday celebrations or much downtime to just be a kid. Maybe that was why he had been so fervent about the Santa Claus thing. He’d wanted the kids to keep some sort of magic or innocence for as long as they could have it.

Or Maddie was overthinking it.

Either way, she hoped Jack had known that their kids had been happy and safe and had loved him.

“What do you want in the house for Christmas? I can get a decorator, or we can stay small.”

“Let’s go all out this year,” Maddie found herself saying, “I want the kids to have a happy Christmas, and Jack would have loved it.”

“Alright.” Vlad’s voice was gentle and he brushed a hand through her hair. “I’ll have it properly decked by the time Jazmine arrives.”

“Thank you.” Maddie rested her head on Vlad’s shoulder. He kissed the top of her head.

“I love you.”

Maddie sighed contentedly. “I love you too.”

“I’m so happy with you here. I could see living like this for the rest of my life.”

“Me too.” She kissed his cheek. Even with all the circumstances that had brought them there considered, her life was good. She headed a team now at STAR Labs, she was going to get another degree, Danny was doing alright in school, Jazz loved Harvard, and they were all happy.

The two of them were quiet for a minute before Vlad broke the silence. “Would it be too early to ask you to consider our relationship in the long term? What do you want going forward, to stay like this, or would you want something more?”

“What do you mean, more?” Maddie laughed, “Even if it was supposed to be short-term, we’ve basically moved in here now.”

“One day, down the road, would you consider marriage?” His tone was carefully casual. Maddie pursed her lips as she considered it. Vlad continued, “I understand, maybe it’s too early to bring that up, I-”

Maddie shook her head. “No, I think getting married would be nice.”

The light was back in Vlad’s eyes. “I’d like that very much. I don’t mind waiting as long as you need, I know we’ve only been seeing each other a few months.”

“I don’t think that matters.” She settled more comfortably into him. “We’ve known each other a long time, and it isn’t as if we’re teenagers with no world or life experience. We’re reasonable adults.”

“Then do you want to wait until after Daniel graduates?” Vlad squeezed her hand. “So it doesn’t make things hard on him?”

She thought about it. “I actually think it’s good to have a male figure in his life. You’re so good with him, too. The other night after he and I had that argument, you went upstairs and talked to him and at dinner, he didn’t sulk or grumble at all. I don’t think we should necessarily delay it because of him, but I do think we should talk to him and see what he thinks. Getting married won’t just affect us.” She shifted her legs so they were beside her on the couch. “I want to talk to Jazz too.”

“Of course. If they need us to wait, I will wait for you, for as long as I need to.”

Maddie kissed him gently, savoring the moment. She had ended up in a good place after all.


End file.
